The National Institutes of Health has announced the opening of the 2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award program. Unlike other NIH grants, which support research projects, the Pioneer Award supports individual scientists and is open to scientists at all career levels. The scientists may currently be engaged in any field of research, provided they are interested in exploring biomedically relevant topics and are willing to commit the major portion of their effort to Pioneer Award research. Awardees must be U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, or permanent residents. To be considered, please submit electronically a three- to five-page essay, a biographical sketch, identification of the applicant's most significant publication or achievement, and three letters of reference. Applications may be submitted between Jan. 15 and Feb. 27. To request an application, visit the website at grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-06-005.html. For more information, see nihroadmap.nih.gov/pioneer.